Job is in a quandary.
We have these dilemmas when folk religion, Biblical faith and reality
collide. The Bible tells us that the
world is a mess and that no one leads a charmed life because they are righteous. As Paul says, in agreement with the Psalmist,
there is none righteous, not one, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory
of God. Our definition of sin is usually
too limited, we measure righteousness comparatively with other human beings,
other sinners. We live by faith but we
also live in a fallen world, a place where we can get hurt easily. Job knows that his only hope is in heaven,
that God knows his, Job's righteousness and blamelessness, that there is no
sin-based reason for his current suffering, his only appeal is to heaven. We all want to makes sense of suffering. Folk religion tells us that karma is the way
of the world, we experience good and bad and we assume there is some underlying
reason for it but we don't know what it is so we attempt to manipulate the
system by being good and thereby bringing good into our lives. Reality is not so straightforward. The Bible makes certain promises that seem
like if we do the right things we will prosper.
The only righteous man who ever lived suffered mightily. We should expect no less.
The disciples have the same idea as Job and his
friends. This man was born blind for one
of two reasons, his sin or his parents' sin, right Jesus, which is it. We would like it to be neat and tidy like
that, to explain suffering as rational. Jesus
says, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of
God might be displayed in him."
Huh? The man born blind, who we
later learn is over forty years old, might have had a different reaction than
"Huh?" He might say, "How
is that fair? What kind of God chooses
me for this life?" He has lived without
sight for no reason other than it was God's will for it to be so, is that
right? Now, Jesus makes mud and spreads
it on his eyes and tells him to go wash it off.
Thanks, Jesus. The man, however,
makes no such protests, he simply complies and when asked who it was that told
him to sin by washing himself, and who caused the sin by making the mud, says,
"He is a prophet." The man's
character has not been marred by this experience, he isn't bitter, he has
learnt to accept his lot and is grateful for his healing. He hasn't missed the forest for the trees.
Saul was not renamed Paul, he was also called Paul. Paul is the Hellenized form of the name. We learn first that he and Barnabas didn't
just cook up the idea of going out on mission, the Holy Spirit moved in the
worship of the church in Antioch to set them apart and send them off as
missionaries and apostles. When they
arrived in Paphos on the island of Cyprus they were opposed by a magician, a
Jewish false prophet named Elymas. He wanted
to maintain his influence over the proconsul there and was threatened by the
mission efforts. Paul, in the power of
the Spirit, pronounces a curse on the man, a curse of blindness, for his
sin. This one has a connection with sin,
there is no doubt why he is blind and in need of someone to lead him who had
formerly led the proconsul. Will he
recognize real power rather than false?
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